INDICATOR OF NEEDS FOR REGIONAL RESOURCE- ALLOCATION IN QUEBEC

This paper proposes an indicator of needs for regional resource alloca tion in public health in Quebec. In the literature, the only reported measure of needs for regional resource allocation in public health has two parameters: size of population and Potential Years of Life Lost f or preventable causes of death (APVP-EV). We verified whether APVP-EV were associated with various indices of socioeconomic conditions and l ifestyle, preventive behaviours, satisfaction with social life, health y life expectancy and some clienteles specific to public health. Our a nalysis indicates that the rate of Potential Years of Life Lost by avo idable causes is significantly related to all variables except satisfa ction with social life. We therefore propose using size of population and its rate of APVP-EV to determine regional allocation of resources in public health.